Paper Drop
red beads bouncing down a cut-paper peg board

What you see on every new tab

Paper Drop turns the New Tab page into a drop-ball board that looks cut from coloured paper, with a soft shadow under every piece. A dark scalloped valance runs across the top behind the search bar, with the score on a paper tag beside it. Under the valance a small funnel wanders left and right and drops red beads into a staggered field of pegs, and a row of numbered pockets waits along the bottom.

• The board: small pegs in five colours that wobble when a bead hits them, and a few larger ring pegs worth 10 points a hit. Beads bounce off the walls, the pegs and each other, and each hard bounce off a peg is turned a little at random, so no two drops go the same way.
• The pockets: an odd number along the bottom, nine on most screens, worth 1000 in the middle and less toward the edges: 500, 250, 100, 50. Each landing pops its points up above the pocket, and a 1000 throws confetti.
• Three boards: Coral Hills has two chevron ramps, two X paddles that spin when hit and a starred bonus cup worth 500. Windmill Meadow has clouds, green hills and a row of windmills whose blades spin when hit. Fairground Wheel has a striped tent, bunting and a slowly turning wheel of six cups: a bead that drops into a cup rides over the top and is tipped out for 100.
• Levels: every 30,000 points the funnel stops dropping, the beads in play finish, and the board slides away for the next one under a paper Level tag. The three boards take turns and the score carries on.

Nothing is a video. Every bead is a small physics simulation run live in your browser and painted fresh each frame, so no two drops fall the same way.

What it reacts to

• Mouse: the funnel follows your cursor from side to side while it moves, and for a few seconds after it stops. Then it goes back to wandering.
• Click: click anywhere on the board and a bead drops from the top at that spot, up to fourteen beads in play at once.
• Music: nothing. The board keeps its own time.
• Sound: game sounds only, no background: dry paper ticks on the pegs and paddles, marimba notes in the score pockets, and a sound for the bonus cup and each new level. Free, like the theme. Sound starts soft on a new install, and you can turn it down or off right on the New Tab.
• Night: the page dims after dusk.

Free or Pro?Free

Paper Drop is one of the five free themes, with Constellation, Marble, Synthwave and Soap Bubble Sky, and it stays free. The clock, date and search box are free too. Pro is $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year, cancel anytime, or $59 once for Pro Forever, and adds every Pro theme, music sync, and every new theme as we release it.

How to get it

1. Add Ambient New Tab to Chrome.
2. Open a new tab and click the Themes pill in the bottom-right corner.
3. Pick Paper Drop. Done.

Questions

Can I play it, or does it play itself?

Both. Left alone, the funnel drops a bead about once a second and the score climbs with no help from you. Move the cursor to aim the funnel, or click to drop a bead where you want it.

Is Paper Drop free?

Yes. Paper Drop is one of five free themes, with Constellation, Marble, Synthwave and Soap Bubble Sky, and it stays free. No account, no time limit.

Is the score saved?

The score starts from zero in every new tab. Your best score is kept in your browser and shown under the score, and a new tab opens on the board the last one reached.

Does it work on my phone?

No. It's a desktop browser extension for Chrome on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS. If you're reading this on a phone, send yourself the link.

More themes

See every theme →